This invention relates to a wall system comprising one or more posts and one or more panels which may be easily interconnected by unskilled labor providing a very cost effective wall system that can be quickly and inexpensively installed.
Wall systems are used for a variety of purposes, such as a fence in outdoor applications, or interior or exterior walls of a building for commercial, office or residential use. Wall systems typically include posts forming vertical structural members for corners where walls intersect typically at a right angle or intermediate the ends as structural members between adjoining panels that are coplanar. Both walls and fences may have various lengths and thus may be assembled from a plurality of intermediate posts and interconnected panels. Such wall systems may utilize pre-fabricated panels fabricated from a variety of materials or the panels may be assembled on site. A number of means for connecting the panels to a post have been utilized including fasteners such as rivets, screws, and nails, or in the case of metal, posts and panels, by welding, brazing or similar metal joining methods.
Fences are typically constructed from wooden materials, utilizing wooden fence posts and panels of wooden construction. The fabrication of the panel may be on site by using upper and lower stringers between a pair of spaced apart posts and then assembling wooden boards between the stringers to form the panel. Or the panel may be prefabricated as a single unit having upper and lower rails and vertical end portions fastened at their upper and lower ends to the rails with the center portion of the panel comprising a variety of materials such as wood slats, arranged in vertical or horizontal position, and forming a solid surface or spaced apart slats or boards. The panel may also be constructed of a variety of materials other than wood.
Despite the use of wall systems in various applications for many years, the present wall system has advantages over such prior art systems as will become clear from the following description.